Teaching values to our kids can only help them flourish and South Carolina is leading the way

American education is in the midst of a crisis — something concerned parents all over the country know well. 

Far more complex and troubling than today’s declining test scores, the K-12 crisis involves the most fundamental ideas about what education should be for our young people.

For all the learning loss tied to misguided COVID policies, one silver lining is that American parents are more focused on what’s happening at school since the pandemic. 

VIRTUES OF COURAGE, COMPASSION, WORK, FRIENDSHIP — THESE MUST BE TAUGHT, SAY BILL BENNETT, ELAYNE BENNETT

And that is why, in this post-COVID environment, parents expect sensible solutions to challenges.

Their children’s future — our children’s future — is at stake. 

It’s both that simple — and that profound.

Thirty years ago I wrote “The Book of Virtues,” to aid parents and teachers in the time-honored task of moral education. 

These virtues are fundamental life anchors: courage, perseverance, honesty, loyalty, compassion, self-discipline, friendship, work and responsibility.

Valuable virtues such as these have always been needed — and perhaps they’re needed today more than ever before.

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Yet children aren’t born knowing these virtues, as I wrote last year along with my wife, Elayne Glover Bennett, in the 30th anniversary edition of “The Book of Virtues.” 

They need to learn the virtues. 

And parents, teachers, mentors and caregivers can help them grasp and appreciate these traits by giving children material to read about them. 

Several states are today seeking innovative ways to address the education crisis that include these virtues — and one such effort is taking place in the state of South Carolina. 

The state has remained intelligently focused on virtues and values over the years, no matter how the political winds have blown. 

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And now, as South Carolina stays ahead of the curve and inspires others to do the same, State Superintendent of Education Ellen Weaver is embarking on a bold new project to address three problems with one concerted effort. 

This three-pronged project seeks to:

• Improve literacy;
• Provide character education that all parents can support; and
• Impart the cultural literacy that children need for success in life.

Weaver’s S.C. Department of Education, through an innovation grant, has funded a new approach that addresses all three critical challenges through Resilience Learning, an organization whose board I am honored to chair.

This first-of-its-kind effort runs on a unique learning platform called Amira Learning. Amira is the result of advancements in our understanding of how children learn to read (i.e., “the science of reading”) — as well as advancements in intelligent technology. 

The intelligent learning platform listens to children read and offers real-time, in-the-moment, individualized assistance to the student. 

While doing so, it generates a detailed assessment for each child that teachers, tutors and parents can use to help guide the student to proficiency — diagnosing where the child needs improvement. 

This is groundbreaking technology — and extraordinary metrics prove its effectiveness. 

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The game-changing platform, of course, comes in conjunction with the important idea that, as children learn to read, what they read matters greatly. 

The stories children will read through Resilience Learning are filled with hope, encouragement and possibility. Through the new South Carolina pilot project, Resilience Learning provides students with stories that will drive both character development and cultural literacy. 

 “The hope is that other states and communities will take a similar approach to that of South Carolina in creating stories that inspire children to greatness.”

Many of these stories are coming from “The Book of Virtues” — time-tested gems of moral awareness that include “The Gift of the Magi” by O. Henry, “The Enchanted Bluff” by Willa Cather, “The Ants and the Grasshopper” by Aesop, “Paul Revere’s Ride” by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow and “George Washington’s Farewell Address,” to name just a few. 

In addition to using excerpts from “The Book of Virtues,” Resilience Learning will include stories that inspire students as they read about extraordinary South Carolinians. 

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They will read, for example, about the perseverance of Francis Marion, the Swamp Fox, during the American Revolution; the courage of Robert Smalls in his fight for freedom during the Civil War; and the determination of Mary McLeod Bethune to improve opportunities for countless young people. 

With only 33% of American fourth graders reading proficiently right now, the hope is that other states and communities will take a similar approach to that of South Carolina in creating stories that inspire children to greatness — while teaching them to read with the world’s first intelligent, evidence-based reading platform.

South Carolina leaders who funded the innovation grant and Superintendent Weaver are to be commended for launching this imaginative initiative to improve literacy while teaching fundamental character traits and cultural literacy that all Americans can rally around. 

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That’s a win for children that is worth emulating — and that every parent, no matter where they live, can stand behind. 

“The Book of Virtues: 30th Anniversary Edition” (Simon & Schuster) is available at Amazon and elsewhere. 

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